Amanda Knox: To Be Extradited by US after Having Linked Her to Drugs in Her Murder Case in Italy

(Photo : Getty Images) Amanda Knox murder case update apparently confirmed her links with cocaine dealers, which authorities are trying to connect with Meredith Kercher's murder. The Italian courts are preparing to fight to extradite Amanda Knox from US. If Italy asks the United States to extradite Amanda Knox, the decision will probably come down to Secretary of State John Kerry — and legal experts say it would be difficult for him to refuse the request.

Amanda Knox murder case update apparently confirmed her links with cocaine dealers, which authorities are trying to connect with Meredith Kercher's murder. The Italian courts are preparing to fight to extradite Amanda Knox from US. If Italy asks the United States to extradite Amanda Knox, the decision will probably come down to Secretary of State John Kerry - and legal experts say it would be difficult for him to refuse the request.

The Italian newspaper Giallo reported updates on the Amanda Knox murder case when it unearthed a police report on January 19, 2008 which said that "during the course of the investigation into the Meredith Kercher, we have confirmed that a person whose initial is 'F' would occasionally supply drugs to Amanda Knox."

The dealer, nicknamed "F," was described as a psychology student who met Amanda Knox during a train ride from Milan to Florence. They shared a joint together and continued their communication "before and after the murder."

Apparently, "F" was part of a major drug syndicate in Perugia and the investigation into the Amanda Knox murder case, particularly the convicted killer's mobile phone, allowed authorities to uncover the drug ring.

The Italian authorities might not be able to extradite her on the murder conviction, according to M. Cherif Bassiouni, Emeritus Professor of Law at DePaul University, who wrote in the Oxford University Press blog that Art. VI of the Treaty states that "extradition is not available in cases where the requested person has been acquitted or convicted of the "same acts" (in the English text) and the "same facts."

Some legal analysts have said that Knox could cloak herself in the Fifth Amendment's protection against double jeopardy, being tried again for a crime after an acquittal. But that protection wouldn't apply to Knox.

For one thing, the treaty with Italy would block Knox's extradition only if she had been prosecuted in the United States, he wrote. For another, double jeopardy wouldn't apply because Knox was convicted, not acquitted, in the first round.

For the State Department, "The takeaway is it'd be a political decision, not a legal one." So if Italy has a strong case against Amanda Knox linking her to drugs in her murder case in that country, US might decide for her extradition.

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